private ONLY GOD KNOWS ] candorpaw

[FLUFFYPAW]

Fluffypaw's steps are soft and subtle under the canopy of pine trees. Long shadows drape across her brindled back as she crunches through pine needles and fallen tree debris. Her mentor — and Twitchbolt — aren't far, she thinks, tasting the air. Spice lands on the base of her tongue, as well as the fiery scent of her closest friend. Jade eyes twist to settle onto Candorpaw's maned figure. "We shouldn't go too far," she mews, her voice warbling like birdsong. She still remembers the ill-fated excursion she'd taken as a kit with her siblings, when her mother had bared her fangs in the face of an adder... the forest is full of danger, she knows this now. She knows this well. And Dandelionwish...

Tears prickle at the corners of either jade-green eye. Fluffypaw sniffles, but stuffs her face into the fluff storming at her chest. "Have you caught anything yet?" She asks, choosing to ignore the blatant grief that's settled on her face. "I still haven't... Greeneyes must be frustrated with me." She pads further forward, ears flicking nervously.

And that's when the crunch of something under a heavy paw causes her to stiffen.

"Candorpaw?" She turns into the opposite direction, eyes blown wide across her face. He's not there. He's somewhere behind her, in the other direction, and instead she's met the beady eyes of a fox — long-bodied, russet-toned, its muscles still and contemplative.

It is waiting for me to run.

Fluffypaw is its prey. It advances on one soot-dusted paw, its long muzzle wrinkling into an ugly dissolution. Teeth glint on either side. Its tail bushes out behind it like wildfire.

It wants to chase me.

Fluffypaw tenses, but her paws are anchored to the earth in fear.

"C-Candorpaw," she chokes, and the words hurt, claw-sharp in her throat. "Candorpaw, please. Save me." She coughs, and the beast turns its pointed face in her direction. The sun glints off the surface of its dark eyes like they're smooth, flat stones.

Run, run, run, run...

She can't.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Fluffykit . Fluffypaw, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 8 moons old, ages realistically on the 8th.
  — mentored by Greeneyes ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
  — skyclan apprentice. butterflytuft x dandelionwish, gen 3.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  lh chocolate tortie/cream chimera with jade eyes. frightened, clingy, anxious, gentle.
  
  

​

 

[CANDORPAW]

An excursion of this sort has been one long awaited, a time where he and Fluffypaw both could leave camp as a pair... mentors in tow, of course. The flow of time was not so un...stoppable that they were at the heels of Warriorhood just yet. Fluffypaw was perhaps, a decent bit closer than him... but this concerned him none! He would make swift time, be even in no time... " Right! " he agrees, not keen to get into trouble with his mentor so soon after his apprentice...ment (Was that a word?) It is a bit of a struggle... Despite his age, he had warriors paws. And a warriors paws wanted to search, wanted to explore! He is taken in by the wonders of the forest, not looking too closely at Fluffypaw herself...

" Not yet... " he admits. Sure, it has been about a moon or so, but he would've liked to have his first prey three moons ago... He would not mope, however. He would not let Fluffypaw do so, either. " Your time is coming, friend! " he reassures. Verdant eyes gaze out into the forest... He ponders, if his eyes had been blue, would the forest be, too?

A ruddy ear flickers at the sound of something, and the apprentice pauses; contemplates if their very first catch was merely around the corner. Ears swiveling in an attempt to pinpoint the sound, he lowers himself to a crouch. Fluffypaw calls for him, then. The apprentice blinks, turns. He sees Fluffypaw, brown and white and red. He sees something else, too — a beast the queens would paint stories about, slim, dog - like snout and beady eyes. Teeth that he knows would be unforgiving, he swears, peek just below the lip... He is at a standstill, shocked. Foolishly, for just a moment, he is excited to see something he has only ever heard about.

But it becomes all the more real, as it turns. As it fixes beady eyes on Fluffypaw, and all the tales come rushing back — snapping fangs, ruthless, curling claws. And Fluffypaw... Fluffypaw's... Not moving.

" Fluffypaw, " he nearly shouts. It catches in his throat, something instinctive commanding his silence. The apprentice sucks in a breath. Without a further thought, he places himself between the fox and her. He recalls what he has practiced — broad stance, tall tail, a chin tilted just so. And he bristles, makes himself someone worthy of being a warrior. Someone worthy of being the son of a Leader. A flared coat makes him larger than he is, and he hopes... prays to StarClan that he looks of someone this beast would not want to trade blows with.

And if he had to... He'd do it for SkyClan. For Fluffypaw. " Go " beneath his breath, he hisses to Fluffypaw. And if she did not, he would jostle her with his tail. " Run, hide, go! " he breathes. And he... he would stand his ground, would keep in place and be brave so Fluffypaw could get away. Claws slid from their sheathes, he takes one step forward.​

 

[FLUFFYPAW]

So Candorpaw hasn't caught anything, either. That should make her feel better, she supposes, but... well... Candorpaw is a moon younger than her! So it isn't even really a fair comparison, is it? Fluffypaw's tufted ear twitches at Candorpaw's enthusiasm. "Your time is coming, friend!" She smiles at him, though it's a touch awkward. "You think so?" She wants to believe him, but... it's hard to let herself.

Candorpaw is easily distracted, and Fluffypaw's too-heavy pawsteps crackle the scattered pine needles underpaw. The beast who slinks through their forest is long-bodied, long-faced, limber — it faces her with its beastly snout wrinkled, its fearsome teeth bared.

She hardly hears herself cry for help — and it is not Twitchbolt she shouts for, or Greeneyes, but Candorpaw, who is younger than her, who does not know how to fight any better than she does. But he comes. Oh, he squares his tawny shoulders, and he thrusts himself between the unmoving Fluffypaw and the bristling beast who threatens her.

This scenario is too-familiar, one of their kithood games come to life, only — only the stench of fox is real, and Candorpaw trembles under his flared-out pelt, and Fluffypaw feels her bones turn to marble. "Go," he hisses under his breath, and Fluffypaw does not move, not until he shakes her with the tip of his tail. "Run, hide, go!"

How can she leave him — as brave as he is, as heroic as she finds him now, she knows he cannot face the monster alone.

But she emits a low, startled cry, and she begins to back away. Shame licks through her body like open flame, fighting terror, fighting self-loathing, but she moves away from Candorpaw regardless.

She prepares to leave him. To die, potentially. And then what — what would she say to his mother, to his mentor, to Orangestar? That she let her best friend die for her? That she was a coward who could not help him fight?

It is StarClan's mercy that the fox sees Candorpaw's bristling pelt, sees the glint of sunlight on his claws, sees the courage rippling through his emerald gaze. It is StarClan's mercy that the beast turns, a strange chittering sound emitting from between its clacking jaws, and leaves them where they stand.

The forest is silent. Fluffypaw's flanks heave with residual horror, and her paws are frozen, but at last she fixes Candorpaw with round, luminous eyes. "You were gonna fight that fox," she coughs. Her voice trembles and breaks. She is reminded of her mother's ferocity when she and her littermates had encountered the adder, and this is like that only —

"You... you could'a been k-killed," she begins to stutter, to whimper, and tears begin to pop onto her cheeks like fat raindrops. Her throat seizes; the shame crashes into her like a falling tree branch. "Oh, Candorpaw, I'm s-so! I'm s-so sorry!"

She flings herself toward him, wrapping her paws around his neck, and she soaks the fire-colored fur at his throat with her emotions.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Fluffykit . Fluffypaw, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 11 moons old, ages realistically on the 8th.
  — mentored by Greeneyes ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
  — skyclan apprentice. butterflytuft x dandelionwish, gen 3.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  lh chocolate tortie/cream chimera with jade eyes. frightened, clingy, anxious, gentle.
  
  

​

 

[CANDORPAW]

He hears her heeding of his word more than he sees it; in the low, strangled note in her throat. Candorpaw cannot afford to glimpse her — not when he was the only barrier between that pale neck and fox's teeth. Resolution in a verdant gaze, he would battle as a warrior would. A few mere moons with Twitchbolt, it may have been... but he was born for this. It sings in his blood, regardless of kittypet tinge. Both of his parents had chosen this. To give when they needed to give. To do what others could not. His tail lashes, his pelt is thick and sun-rife. And... mercy.

Relief comes with the beast's going. Momentary flash of death- evaded with but a look. His heart hammers in his chest, the beat of adrenaline's drum... Candorpaw does not tear his gaze away until the fronds shuffle no further. Until the stench begins to fade... His jubilation is not borne of the fight he'd avoided- but rather, for Fluffypaw's safety. The held moment of silence is tense. Candorpaw still bristles with adrenaline. Fluffypaw is still frozen with fear. He blames her none, of course...

It is not until she speaks that he tears his gaze away. A battle-ready form still static, it is only his eyes that seek her first. Fluffypaw retells the story of moments ago. He's glad his sincerity sticks out in her mind, as it does... " ...Yeah, " there is no ounce of fear as he speaks. And it feels good it feels good to be brave. To be seen as brave. He fixes his language. " ...I was. "

And then she weeps, and the press of Fluffypaw's pelt pushes away that flickering flame of satisfaction. Candorpaw gapes. He steadies himself, holds the both of them upright. " Sorry? Sorry for what? " his shock is sincere. " Fluffypaw, you didn't tell the fox to be here— It's okay. We're both here, still! " A thick tail, sunburnt visage of his face, comes to curl at her flank, gentle echo of the command from moments before. Could have been killed. He would not dwell on could have's. What matters is the present. What matters is the future, the stories they would spin, and not the whispers of what had not been, whether good or bad...

He dips his nose, crowns the top of her head with a touch. " I'm... " He finds that he hates this, his friend's tears. Overwhelmed by her emotion, he finds himself blinking back his own... But for both of their sakes, he could not be like her, could he? " I'll always be here, okay? " It's a promise he makes suddenly. And he had liked it, hadn't he? Protecting someone? It would make the both of them happy, he thinks... " I swear it. "​